It had its own post office and was a thriving town until the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was completed from Cleburne to Fort Worth in 1881.

The railroad missed Caddo Grove, and a station was built on the tracks at the site of future Joshua.

By 1890, Joshua had a population of 300, two steam-powered corn mills and cotton gins, a hotel, a general store, and a newspaper, the Johnson County Record.

[citation needed] The railroad shipped farm produce, Joshua's largest export.

By 1914, the community had a population of 824, two cotton gins, an ice plant, a bank, a newspaper named the Joshua Star, and four churches.

Joshua had 14 businesses in 1970 and 58 in 1980, when seven local manufacturers made such items as aluminum products, boat trailers, leather goods, and windows.

[8] Joshua is located is bordered to the north by Burleson and to the south by Cleburne, the county seat.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Joshua has a total area of 6.8 square miles (17.6 km2), of which 0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2), or 0.47%, is covered by water.

A hill known as Brushy Knob stands to the west of Joshua, at a height of 1,042 feet above mean sea level.